A Kiss is Just A Kiss
by Elise2
Summary: Lee Ponders the meaning of Kisses


A Kiss is Just A Kiss

Author: Elise

Summary: Lee ponders the meaning of kisses.

Disclaimer: All the usual stuff, don't own "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" or Lee and Amanda. They only fuel my fantasies that a man can be taught to be perfect . Lines borrowed from several episodes don't belong to be either.

These are just little scenes that popped into my head. I shamelessly copied all the quotes from three 'little' books entitled 'The Kiss', 'The Embrace' and 'the Passion.' I happened on these at Borders after Christmas and thought of our favorite couple.

Setting: Through the years, Beginning in first season.

Rating: PG (Yes, I can write innocent stuff!!)

Feedback: Always welcome.

Thanks to Amanda in WI for her beta work. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

#^#^#^#^#

'I wanted to kiss this woman so bad, I wondered how I could stay alive without it.' Lee read those words in the report and grimaced. "What tripe, " he muttered to himself. "How can anyone actually say something like that. That's what I want to know. He ought to be ashamed of himself."

Lee shook his head in disbelief, tossing the case file onto his desk. Sure, women were sweet and tasty and lots of fun but to be so absorbed in a woman that she distracted you to the point where you gave out confidential information...Lee just could not understand a man letting himself be trapped that way. 

It was one thing to play out a Peacock dance, another altogether to believe it could be real. Lee shrugged, oh well, it was not his problem to solve. He was just reviewing the case file for Francine, trying to figure out where Thomas lost control and blew the operation. 

The door to the bullpen opened and Amanda King blew in like a breath of fresh air. Lee grinned to himself. Now there was a woman who could distract a Palace Guard if she wanted to. Idly, Lee wondered what she was doing here. He didn't know of anything that called for a civilian in the pipeline. He watched her disappear into Billy's office and close the door.

Francine stormed out of the office a few minutes later, aimed directly at Lee's desk. He tried to shrink back out of the way only to be brought up short by her wrath-filled eyes as she glared at the case file that still lay where Lee had tossed it. Reaching out, she snatched it up and marched back into the office.

"What the heck is that about, Scarecrow?" Whispered Jamerson, sitting in the next row. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing, at least, not anything recent, I think," Lee replied. He turned his mind to Francine's behavior when she'd asked him to review the file. Nope, she hadn't been mad at him, just Thomas. And he hadn't spoken to her since then. Surely she wasn't still mad about that little thing in the bar with Sandi the other night. His musing were soon brought up short when the door to the office opened yet again and Billy's familiar bellow called him. He casually rose and crossed the room, unaware of what lay ahead of him.

######

"Billy, you cannot be serious about this. Amanda doesn't have the clearance for this information and I didn't have anything to do with this operation anyway, it's Francine's mess. Let her clean it up," Lee protested but to no avail. He was stuck with Amanda King, trying to figure out how to flip back a spy that the other side had flipped. 'Thomas, when I get my hands on you, you son of a ...' Lee thought to himself as he and Amanda entered the closet elevator, rearranging the coats to give himself time to think.

"Lee, I know you don't think I can help you but if there is one thing I do understand, it's how a woman's mind works, which Francine can't figure out, not that I mean Francine isn't a woman, of course she is but she's not a normal woman, you know? Not that I don't mean she's abnormal or something, she's not but I don't think that you can be in this business and not have it mess with your thinking, you just cannot think like a normal person does anymore and that's why Mr. Melrose wanted me to help you with this because I am a normal person and I will understand better than you what poor Mr. Thomas was thinking because you can't understand normal men either, oh, dear, I didn't mean to imply that you weren't normal it's just..."

Lee could stand it no longer, he placed his hand over her mouth to stop the ramble that was spewing forth. The elevator came to a halt, allowing Lee a reason for withdrawing his hand. He moved the coats aside allowing them to exit. Wryly, he shook his head, remembering his earlier thought. Amanda wasn't a breath of fresh air, she was a hurricane, an element of nature. It was a wonder that the Weather Service hadn't named one after her. Maybe he should drop the word in a few people's ear. 'Hurricane Amanda, it has a nice ring to it,' Lee thought as he held the door for her to exit the building.

#^#^#^#^#^#^

Amanda was sitting in the Q Bureau at Lee's desk. She was supposed to be going over his expense reports before he turned them into Billy. The only problem was that there were no expense reports on the desk, not in the drawers, not in nor under the pile of paper the Lee Stetson called "Work in Progress". That pile was a foot tall and Amanda found items dated three months ago that she knew had been cleared up because she was with Lee when it happened. He STILL had not written the case reports on those 'minor' incidents. 

Sometimes this man drove Amanda nuts. At times, he was totally focused on his work, immersed to the point where he slept at the office, pouring over reports. Other times, like this past week, he was scattered, coming in late, not meeting her when he said he would. Oh, yes, he always had some excuse, none of them any good. Amanda knew what the real excuse was, a woman. Some sweet honey he had met at the park or at the reception or at some sleazy bar. 

Amanda pushed yet another pile of paper across the desk, searching for the elusive reports. She shoved just a little too hard in her agitation and the paper tower lost its fight with gravity, sliding to the floor. Amanda blew out her breath in frustration. She could be home, working on Phillip's costume for the upcoming play, she could be putting all this effort into cleaning her own house. Not picking up after some Lothario who couldn't be bothered to put the expense reports, reports that he had BEGGED her to come up and do for him, where she….

Her thoughts stopped suddenly, arrested by a book of poetry that had fallen with the stack of papers. There was a highlighted passage where the book fell open. Amanda struggled for a moment, then gave in to the temptation to read it.

'How I long to give myself up in ecstasy to your sweet breath and to those kisses from your lips which fill me with delight' 

'Humph, what drivel is this?' Amanda turned the book over and read the title. "Love Letters by Juliette Drouet" Turning to the front page to peek at the inscription, she read...'To Matthew with all my love forever, Jennifer' 

"Humph," she repeated, aloud this time. "A second hand poetry book. I thought Lee was better than that."

"Better than what?" Amanda closed the book and whipped it around her back . "Amanda, I'm sorry I'm late, I've been tearing up the apartment looking for a book my uncle sent me. He wanted a quote out of it and I can't find it anywhere."

Lee crossed the room in quick strides and began rummaging through the desk drawers.

"Oh, that's okay, Lee," Amanda said guiltily, sorry now that she had been thinking harsh thoughts about him. Was this uncle who had raised him and why did he want a quote from this book? "I didn't have anything pressing to do this morning or afternoon, " she said rather pointedly. "But I can't find those reports that you wanted me to check over for you."

Lee looked up from his search and spotted the mass of papers still on the floor. "What happened here, a small earthquake? One named Amanda, perhaps?" 

Color flooded Amanda's face as she bent to straighten the mess. Alas, Lee chose the same moment to lean down and the inevitable happened. Amanda dropped the forgotten book to floor as she bounced off of Lee with a cry of pain.

"Amanda, are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ...I mean..." But what Lee meant was lost as he spied the book that had fallen to the floor. "There it is, how on earth did it get up here? " Reaching down, he gently picked up the slim volume and turned it over in his hands. 

"My Mum gave this to Dad as a wedding present. The Colonel kept it for me, thinking that one day I might appreciate the sentiments behind it. So far, I don't see it. Bunch of malarkey, if you ask me." Despite his words, Amanda could see Lee treated the book with reverence. 

She shook her head at his attitude. 'One day, Lee Stetson, one day, you will lose your heart to a woman. I hope I'm around to see it.'

#^#^#^#^#^#^# (Affair at Broomfield Hall)

Standing in the park in London, Amanda laughed in delight at the expression on Lee's face when she had gestured to the palace, requesting Tea with the Queen. Well, he had left himself open to that one, she thought smugly, talking about all his contacts.

He gave her a look, one of the kind only Lee could manage. The kind of look that melted her soul. The kind Laura Esquiver had been talking about in that book her mother had quoted to her before her trip. 

" 'Having felt it on her own body, she knew a look could start a fire' ," Dotty had sighed as she read the line aloud. "Amanda, dear, doesn't that just send a shiver up your spine when you imagine that?"

Amanda had answered in the negative, no one sent a shiver up her spine. No one, that was, except Lee when he gave her that look. But she couldn't play with fire, it was too dangerous for a mother of two small sons. She had to be strong and douse the flames.

#^#^#^#^#^# (Burn Out)

'Amanda, oh god, Amanda, what have I done?' The refrain ran through Lee's mind as he watched her leave the bar. 'How could I have hurt her like that? I HIT her, Amanda, I hit Amanda. The look on her face, the betrayal. She'll never forgive me for that. I hope she stays away. I need to keep her safe, safe...away from me and safe.' 

Amanda sat in her car, shocked and bewildered. Lee had hit her. Sure he had apologized and told her to stay away but she just couldn't. She had to help him. She just had to be safe to do so. Turning on the radio, she listened absently to the news, thinking about Lee. Amanda was shocked to hear the show host announce the topic of the hour.

"I want to hear your thoughts on this folks, continuing from last hour. 'Love is like a fever, it comes and goes without the will having any part in the process.' True or false? " He was inviting callers to dial now and give their opinions. 

'A fever, is that what Lee is to me? Naw, surely not, I don't love him, we're just friends ...and partners...I have to save him from himself, that's all,' Amanda strove to dismiss the phrase from her mind but it lingered... like a fever.

#^#^#^#^#^# (Utopia Now)

It was cold. Amanda was tired and scared. The men had been chasing them for what seemed like hours. Finally, night had fallen and she and Lee could rest for a while. Amanda was really scared. She didn't know if they would escape this time. All she knew was that she wanted Lee to know...to know just how much he meant to her. 

She shivered and he pulled her closer, wrapping his strong arms around her. She felt so safe with him, usually. He was speaking and she was answering, nodding in what seemed the right places but her mind was on another track. She had to speak, tell him what she was thinking. A quote from Margaret Mitchell floated across her mind as she drew closer to him, their lips centimeters apart. 

'Her lips on his could tell him better than all her stumbling words' She wanted to tell him.....

#^#^#^#^#^# (The Wrong Way Home)

Lee sat at the curb, watching Amanda and Joe at the door, saying goodnight. He had a strange feeling, seeing the two of them together. He had known that Amanda HAD an ex-husband out there somewhere but to be confronted with him and seeing how much she still cared for him, well, that was different. 

It made him think about her in a different way. A way he wasn't comfortable with. It brought back to him a conversation he'd overheard while they were waiting around at Dooley's. Amanda had been at the jukebox and the two women in the booth behind Lee were reminiscing, loudly. 

"You know, through all our years together, we had built up a history and a closeness so subtle we didn't even know it was there," one had said.

"Yeah, I remember, seeing you two together before Bruce came to his senses. It was a treat. He was so blind. It took Michael coming home and trying to get back with you before he woke up," had come the reply.

Lee was startled to find that he and Amanda had built a closeness that was threatened by Joe. After all this time, he couldn't imagine being without his partner, his best friend. And he knew that he didn't want Joe King to butt in and take Amanda away from him.

#^#^#^#^#^#^# (Three Little Spies)

The case was over, the group of co-workers was once again three separate couples. The other two groups were sitting close, acting like VERY close friends. Lee was astonished to discover that he wanted that closeness with Amanda. Her crystal laughter had broken through his solemnity, cutting away the trepidation, the hesitation, the shyness. That crystal sound had grasp his heart, tugging at it to open and let her inside.

It was a sound Lee had discovered he liked, a lot. And when she looked at him...there was a naked promise in a glance, there was electricity in a touch, there would be delicious heat in a kiss, Lee was confidant. And he was looking forward to tasting that heat.

Amanda looked at him, a question in her eyes. In answer, he pulled her close to him, content right now just to hold her.

#^#^#^#^#^#^# (All The World's A Stage)

Lee had watched Amanda all week at that stupid play. He didn't understand it, he didn't want to understand. There were a lot of things he didn't understand right now. He paged through the discarded script pages left on the floor by a careless actor. 

'Love is not a decision your brain makes. It is a feeling you know somewhere else and your brain catches up. But love challenges you in ways you need to be challenged in...'

'What character was supposed to utter these words,' Lee wondered. 'This doesn't fit in with this play at all. ' As Lee searched for a clue, his ears were attuned to Amanda's voice. When she was silent, he looked up only to find her standing beside him. 

"Rehearsals on a break, Lee, let's go grab a bite to eat, okay?" Amanda reached out her hand for his. He folded the page, slipping it into his pocket, thinking it might be a clue. 

'Yeah, that's right, a clue,' Lee thought. He'd run it by Amanda at lunch and see what she could make out of it. Somehow, he knew that she would understand what he was missing.

#^#^#^#^#^#^# ( Stemwinder)

Lee held himself back, all he wanted to do at this moment was to kiss Amanda until she couldn't breath, get out of this dump and clear his name. In that order. 

Instead he took refuge in a sarcastic remark, "Just another cozy evening with the spy family." He knew it was unfair and he regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. 

He wanted to kiss her, he just couldn't find the words express himself. 'Words, Stetson, since when do you rely on words?' Why was he trying to talk about kissing? Talking about kissing is like humming about fire. Words are insufficient to describe the experience, especially when the one being kissed was Amanda.

He crossed the room and took her in his arms, resisting the urge to kiss her, afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself and knowing that he had to concentrate, to clear them so that he could take his time and indulge his passion for her at the right time.

#^#^#^#^#^#(Unfinished Business)

"Lee, can you hear me? Do you know who I am?" Amanda was worried about the drug she had given him. What if it was too much or too little? What if...Her thought was derailed when Lee's soft voice answered her question.

"My Amanda..." Her heart melted. HIS Amanda. There were so many things she wanted to say, to ask him. But she stuck to the task at hand. 

'Concentrate, Amanda, concentrate,' she muttered to herself. 'Stick to the plan, oh, but what if the plan is wrong? What if...' Taking herself firmly in hand, Amanda lead Lee through the questions. She wanted to stop, wanted to kiss him until he was as breathless as he made her. But she couldn't, this was too important to Lee and thus to her.

#####

Amanda looked up from Jennifer's diary, tears glistening in her eyes. In a voice thick with tears, she turned to Lee. "Like father, like son."

Lee gave her that special smile, the one that always meant she was the only one for him. She opened her mouth to speak but he took her lips with his, silencing her.

"What did you do that for?" she whispered against his mouth. 

"Because, 'a kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous', at least, that's what my Dad used to say when Mum would get carried away. He heard it in an Ingrid Bergman movie."

"Oh, well, by all means, let's not fight nature," Amanda whispered, reaching for him again.

#^#^#^#^#^# (Bad Timing)

"Amanda, you get out of here. Do you hear me? You be safe. I don't want you here if..."

Amanda struggled with the keys in the lock. Leatherneck had done a good job with the Deadman's watch, too good. She had to concentrate and it wasn't easy with Lee trying to shoo her away. 

"Hush, Lee. Don't you know that there are swords about me to keep me safe. They are the kisses of your lips." 

Lee grew silent as he pondered her words, he looked down to see the watch pop off, just in the nick of time as the needle came out, spewing liquid. They watched it in solemn silence. 

"Kisses are swords, eh?" Lee spoke softly. "Then let me replenish your supply because I think we went through too many today." He took Amanda in his arms and lowered his lips to hers, grateful for life and for this woman who made him want to live.

#^#^#^#^#^# (Do You Take This Spy)

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride." The Justice of the Peace beamed at the couple in front of him. 

Lee lowered his face to Amanda. When they kissed, it seemed to Amanda, she was coming home. That somehow she had always known the taste and the feel of him. 

Home at last, with just a kiss.

#^#^#^#^#^#

Lee looked up from the journal he was writing in at the desk in the living room as Amanda entered the room. Smiling, he put pen to paper again, completing his entry for the day.

'I wanted to kiss this woman so bad, I wondered how I could stay alive without it.'

The End


End file.
